Get everyone crystal clear on the purpose and values of your organization.
Your ability to identify and succinctly convey core purpose influences the success of your organization. If you’re having trouble creating momentum there may be a disconnect between your stated core purpose and how your organization runs today.
There are three primary factors that make up your core purpose:
Mission: what you set out to do and why you do your work.
Vision: what you want the future impact of your work to be.
Values: your point of view about how you approach your work.
“Stacy French Reynolds is one of the most gifted consultants I have ever worked with.
She led several sessions where the energy and vitality in the room was literally palpable. As a result of our work with Stacy, we now know where we’re going. There is a clear path aligning our people and financial resources and we know how to sustain our growth. We could never have done this without her. ”
About Core Purpose, Mission, Vision, Values
Your core purpose is the heartbeat of your organization. It is the foundation with which you build the rest of your organization; from engaging your board and staff, attracting donors, and building vibrant programs.
Organizations can more easily achieve amazing things when everyone is aligned to the same core purpose.
But organizations that have members who aren’t clear on core purpose can struggle. This can happen for a lot of reasons. Many times, aspects of your core purpose are forgotten as the realities of day-to-day management take over. Sometimes, an organization never truly articulated their core purpose in the first place. On some occasions, external factors require you to alter your core purpose in order to stay relevant.
A revisit of your core purpose is probably in order if any of these things are happening:
Pursuit of too many new ideas that take up resources and energy cause you to shift focus again and again. “There are just so many ideas, we never seem to get to them all!”
Staff and board members all possess a slightly different understanding of what you do. “Well, if you ask our Board President they’d have a different take than our Director of Development.”
The culture and atmosphere is persistently tense and rife with issues. “Every day is a new problem. My people aren’t gelling and it feels like we can’t get anywhere! I love what I do, but I’m exhausted.”
You’ve altered significant aspects of who you are or what you do to make the funders happy. “One of our grants prefers that we measure outcomes like this, so we changed things up.”
Conversations usually end up revolved around tactical stuff. You rarely, if ever, discuss higher-level strategic issues. “No! We need to decide if we’re going to publish more books or focus on getting more online resources. Also, which social media platforms should we be on and for how many hours a day?”
The board is too often “in the details” of what happened and not focused on future strategy, funding, or resources. “I feel like our board looks in the rear-view mirror more than they look toward what’s ahead.”
If any of those examples ring true to you, then there is a disconnect between your day-to-day and your core purpose and it’s impacting your ability to succeed. No new idea, innovation, or management “trick” is going to fix it. The only way to solve it is to re-examine your mission, vision, and values.
Creating Your Core Purpose
Your mission, vision, and values are a reflection of your organization and what it desires to change in the world.
It is a combination of things that are hard-wired and things that you strategically decide to emphasize. It cannot be created it in a locked room all by yourself. It isn’t something you develop with a one-time “brainstorming” session with your board to craft the most beautiful mission statement in the world. It is only something that can be developed over a series of important discussions, exercises, and group decision making.
In fact, no organization can develop a core purpose of any merit by themselves. The work simply demands too much introspection and examination to have those within the organization lead and participate in the discussion simultaneously.
Engaging an unbiased, third-party facilitator is critical to the process. By bringing in a facilitator, you allow all the key players to participate in, rather than manage, these important conversations.
Third-party facilitation makes all the difference.
Stacy French Reynolds’ unique core purpose process allows you and your board to identify and state the organization’s mission, vision, and values in a positive and productive way. You will examine the organization in ways you never have before in a non-judgemental environment. Stacy helps you uncover the answers to important questions, prioritize what is truly unique about you, and revitalize a sense of camaraderie.
The result?
A core purpose that truly reflects your organization that everyone believes in. Your core purpose components will be created with you (not for you behind a locked door) and will be simple, fitting, and clear.
Furthermore, when you work with Stacy on your core purpose you will also experience:
Decision-Screen: New ideas or opportunities that don’t serve the core purpose will no longer take you off course, no matter how enticing they may sound.
Off-the-Charts Internal Enthusiasm: Board engagement levels go up dramatically and board-driven donations increase as a result.
Uncluttered Operations: Organizations often discover that some of what they do isn’t relevant to their mission. They learn to focus their efforts so resources are dedicated to what makes an impact.
Powerful Programming: Programs thrive when everyone is clear on what they are trying to accomplish within the context of the organization. Your audience is better served and your staff feels more fulfilled.
Cohesion: Everyone truly works together towards the same purpose.
Fewer Conflicts: Clarity around your values creates an internal language around your culture and takes the friction out of decision making.
Understand Your Impact: When you know what you are setting out to do and it is easier to measure whether or not you are achieving success.